Since the USSR launched Sputnik in 1957, humanity has relied on earth-orbiting satellites to play an ever-increasing role in global communications. Today, thousands of satellites and hundreds of thousands of pieces of “space junk” orbit our planet. Just one stray piece of space junk could damage crucial satellites and disrupt communications on a worldwide scale. The field of Space Situational Awareness (SSA) is devoted to monitoring the space environment and protecting our satellites from debris by detecting and mapping space junk in orbit. In no small way, SSA makes our globally connected way of life possible.

In 2015, SSA professionals discovered that Celestron’s Rowe-Ackermann Schmidt Astrograph is an ideal instrument for SSA applications. Its fast focal ratio and wide field of view allow it to detect even small pieces of space junk traveling at extraordinarily high rates of speed. Currently, there are dozens of RASA telescopes in use around the world every night scanning the skies to protect our satellites at a fraction of the cost of other systems.

Celestron’s team approached SSA experts to collaborate on an even better telescope to meet this important need. The result is RASA 36. Assembled at our Torrance, CA, headquarters from start to finish, this ultra-precise optical instrument can detect individual pieces of debris measuring less than 1 meter.

Our in-house team of optical experts has worked round-the-clock for months to produce RASA 36 telescopes to meet overwhelming demand from SSA organizations. Now, we’re prepared to make this incredible telescope available for another application: advanced astroimaging.